There's several different things happening in this, including stuff
specifically relating to cycling, the Sacramento area, pit bulls, and
social trends. I have a little bit of experience with Sacramento,
although I've never been on the American River Trail.
retrog...@gmail.com wrote:
> I just wanted to toss this question out there, and see what you guys
> think.
>
> There have been several news reports about the pit bull attacks.
>
> People are getting to be too afraid to ride their bikes on the bike
> trail.
I think that there's a lot that's related to the condition of homeless
in the area, and right now, homeless issues are prominent in Sacramento.
The downtown area has always been something of a magnet for homeless,
and I think it's probably worse in more recent years with the big
shelter on 12th street.
The thing with shelters is that there are people who either cannot or
will not stay there, but end up being in proximity. Some of those people
are ones that have animals with them, and many shelters won't allow the
animals. Thus, some of those people are likely to end up in the
Discovery Park area.
With pit bulls, the attraction is often that they're perceived as
"tough", and it wouldn't surprise me that some of the people who are
more chronically homeless may be attracted to them, partially because
they're often affectionate and good companions, and also that they're
perceived as good protection.
I don't claim to know much about pit bulls, and there's some amounts of
debate, but with any dog, they can attack if they feel that "their"
space is being encroached upon. With pit bulls, if that attack happens,
it's likely to be more ferocious.
>
> Every once in awhile the Sacramento County Sheriff will roust the
> homeless people, and they will move up hwy. 50 to somewhere near
> Placerville. Then after awhile the El Dorado County Sheriff will
> roust them again, and they go back to the bike trail area.
>
> How can cyclists protect themselves from such attacks? All thoughts
> on this issue will be appreciated.
As noted, I think the key issue is a matter of when the dog feels
threatened on space it considers its own. And as noted, it's not limited
to pit bulls, but other breeds, as well. Also, it's a probable that a
dog belonging to a homeless person is probably not well-trained,
especially in how to get along with humans.
Unfortunately, in such circumstances, there's no easy way of pushing
back, to make the dog understand that the space at issue does not belong
to the dog. And to clear the space, about the only thing you can do is
to complain to local law enforcement. And even then, they may not have
a lot of ability to do anything, unless there are demonstrable problems
with the presence of the homeless person.
As for a bicyclist, it's important to avoid provoking the dog,
especially making eye contact that would cause the dog to feel
challenged. But some dogs may be provoked by your presence in "their"
space. If a dog charges you, then there's ways of fighting back -- as
noted elsewhere in this thread, throwing rocks, or using something like
pepper spray may help. Actually, one thing that I learned in this
newsgroup years ago is that your water bottle can be a useful defensive
tool, and a dog that gets an unexpected burst of cold water in the face
may pull up, because of the shock of the unexpected. However, that's
probably more useful against dog that's simply barking, rather than one
that's intent on attack.
However, one point of caution, especially in a situation where you may
find repeated encounters with the same dog -- defending with something
like pepper spray may be something that extracts you from that
situation, but it may be only one-time help. Some dogs may remember that
and learn, and if you (or another cyclist) have a subsequent encounter
with the same dog, that may actually make the dog more aggressive, and
possibly more dangerous. Thus, if you've pepper-sprayed a dog, and you
you come back days (or even weeks or months) later, and the dog
recognizes you, it may be spoiling for a fight.
If it comes to fighting back against a dog, better with low-tech
solutions (water or rocks) that try to establish the space as yours,
rather than something that causes sufficient discomfort to the dog that
will make it more easily provoked in the future.
Smith